Nickey fined $2,500 for inadvertently touching ref

NASHVILLE, Tenn. 
The NFL has fined Titans safety Donnie Nickey $2,500 for coming in contact with referee Bill Leavy during Tennessee's loss in San Diego.

Nickey confirmed the fine Wednesday. He says he didn't realize Leavy was so close to him. Nickey says he was upset at how Scott Mruczkowski had bodyslammed him, then pushed his head down at the end of a punt. Nickey says he came up waving his arm, not caring if he drew a flag.

But Nickey hit Leavy, and the referee flagged him immediately. Nickey was ejected for the first time in his eight-year NFL career.

Nickey says he didn't hit Leavy too hard and thinks the fine would have been worse if he had a closed fist.

Ray Anderson, the NFL's executive vice president of football operations, was at the game Sunday.